Hickory- your opinions??

[Jerry Olexa]

Looking at a property being built in a country/rustic location some distance from here. The builder shows craftmanship/skill in many of the pictures I have seen. I have not actually visited yet. Here's my question:
The floors are 3/4" hickory T&G and the kitchen cabinets and shelving in other rooms are also of hickory. What is your opinion of this hardwood used in these type applications? I suppose I'm too spoiled by the charms of cherry, walnut and sometimes oak. I imagine how its finished is also a factor.Is the use of hickory like this a "good thing" or not? Thanks in advance...Jerry

[Jim Becker]

Structurally, hickory is a great thing...hard stuff...and that's also nice for the floors considering durability. For the cabinetry, it's more about aesthetics. All the hickory cabinetry I've seen takes advantage of the variability in color which gives what I'll call a more informal look. Although I love the look of cherry, I didn't find the hickory cabinetry I've seen off-putting...just different.

[Lance Norris]

When I was about 20 years old(25 years ago) I helped my father build and install a complete set of kitchen cabinets that the homeowner wanted built out of hickory. It was stunning in my opinion. We went and purchased "character grade hickory" which has lots of color and feature. I also remember him saying that hickory was fairly common here in Ohio for cabinetry and flooring in the 1940s-50s. He built homes in that era with my grandfather and they used hickory from time to time.

[Rick Gooden]

I like the look of hickory, a nice departure from the more traditional woods. Extremely hard and durable. You need very sharp tools to work with it but the results can be out of the ordinary.

[scott spencer]

Hard durable stuff as Jim and others point out. Great choice for heavily used floors IMO. It's always a matter of preference, but I think for a more rustic look I'd consider chestnut.

[Craig Hemsath]

Structurally, hickory is a great thing...hard stuff...and that's also nice for the floors considering durability. For the cabinetry, it's more about aesthetics. All the hickory cabinetry I've seen takes advantage of the variability in color which gives what I'll call a more informal look. Although I love the look of cherry, I didn't find the hickory cabinetry I've seen off-putting...just different.

I'm the opposite, I sometimes find cherry to be kinda blah (mostly on factory/BORG stuff) and I LOVE the contrasting colors of hickory. You're right about the informal look, but it's always something different and unique. No way you could ever have two hickory kitchens look the same.

[Robert Chapman]

I've done some cabinets with hickory. It is very hard and heavy wood. It is difficult to work as it makes very small splinters and slivers which can be painful. It has a lot of character and varying colors. Challenging to work but interesting and durable.

[Dennis Peacock]

Hickory is a poor mans Pecan. They are interchangeable as they both machine and finish almost 100% identical.

Hickory is pretty wood. I wish I had a truck load of it right now.

[Jerry Olexa]

Thanks guys...Good comments. You seem to paralell my feelings (from the pictures I've seen. ): looks good and is practical on the floors. The kitchen cabinets look VERY rustic and informal and each is different from the others. (Maybe too much) Fair amount of streaky grain and some knots. . The building itself and location are excellent but the look of the kitchen cabs cause me some concern. I suppose they could always be refinished or even rebuilt/refaced later'It is new construction.
LMK if you have any addt'l ideas. I'll have a better feel after I actually see/touch them in 2 weeks. Thanks for your help..

[Jim Becker]

Jerry, don't bag a good property based on the look of the kitchen cabinets! LOL You're a woodworker, after all...

[Peter Quinn]

Hickory floors..great! Hickory cabs? 40YRD roll-off!

[Jerry Olexa]

Jerry, don't bag a good property based on the look of the kitchen cabinets! LOL You're a woodworker, after all...

Jim, Exactly my sentiments !! But LOML doesn't share my enthusiasm... Redoing them should be an easy project!

[Bob Feeser]

I had seen kitchen cabinets in Home Depot that had Hickory wood faces on them, and was immediately attracted to the look. When a friend of mine was removing a large old Hickory tree, I asked the tree surgeon if I could have the logs. He agreed and dropped them off, then I went about finding a sawyer, which I did.




After the sawyer was done milling all of the logs, I had quite a few board feet of it. The only problem is that it wasn't exactly like the oak 12" wide boards that I had, which were pure wood all the way through. The Hickory had lots of bark running through it. When I asked the sawyer about it he replied, "Hickory is barky. It is tough to get a lot of finished wood out of it." I think that is the reason why when I see cabinets made out of it, they always seem to be in 2 or 3 inch strips glued together. I know with the stock that I have, I will need to cut out the sections that are pure, and glue them up. It actually is beautiful wood; it almost has a walnut quality to the light and dark areas, just a little lighter in the dark areas, more like brown, than black. It is hard too, and heavy. The sawyer had a large beam of Hickory holding his old barn together bolted into the old hand hewn beams with joint separations.

[Jerry Olexa]

I think that is the reason why when I see cabinets made out of it, they always seem to be in 2 or 3 inch strips glued together.

Bob, thanks. I noticed also the cabinets are primarily made up of glued together "strips". Very few wide boards. That's what caused my reaction.

[Jim Becker]

Realistically, a lot of commercial, off the shelf cabinets and those that use doors supplied by "door specialists" often have a lot of glued up narrow boards no matter what the species, many times without thought to grain and color matching. This is one of the reasons that I might buy carcasses and drawer boxes to save time if necessary, but will still build my own doors, drawer fronts and face frames...attention to grain and color is important to me.